Patagonia, Spotify and Western Union give staff time off to vote in US election

Patagonia, Spotify, SurveyMonkey, TaskRabbit, and Western Union are among the organisations encouraging US staff to take time off today (Tuesday 8 November 2016) to vote in the US presidential election.

The organisations are among more than 340 firms taking part in the Take Off Election Day campaign, which encourages organisations to give employees time off so that they have the opportunity to vote. Other organisations taking part in the initiative include Evernote, Homebrew, and Tinder.

Laws entitling employees to paid time off to vote vary between US states.

Outdoor clothing organisation Patagonia has committed to closing all of its US retails stores, its head office and distribution and customer service centre today to further encourage both employees and customers to head to the polls.

This forms part of the organisation’s 2016 Vote Our Planet initiative, which launched in September. The non-partisan campaign aims to educate individuals on how to use their vote to support environmental issues.

Rose Marcario, chief executive officer at Patagonia, said: “During a time of catastrophic environmental crisis, when America needs strong leadership to confront the fundamental threat of climate change, voter turnout threatens to reach historic lows as people are turned off by the ugliness of politics.

“As a business, we have a unique ability to take a stand and choose to prioritise the health of the planet over profit, and I think it’s important we take that opportunity when it truly matters. We want to do everything possible to empower citizens to make their voices heard and elect candidates up and down the ballot who will protect our planet.”